At the much larger First Church of God in Columbus, Ohio, there was a near-total halt to in-person worship between March 2020 and September of this year. On two Sundays in September 2020, worshippers were invited back to the church to test the feasibility of in-person services.
“But it was obvious they were still uncomfortable — they came dressed like they were working at Chernobyl,” said the senior pastor, Bishop Timothy Clarke, evoking hazmat suits appropriate for confronting a nuclear disaster.
Pre-pandemic, the predominantly African American church held three services each weekend, including one on Saturday evenings, with average total attendance of 2,500. Now there’s a single service on Sunday, and only 500 worshippers — with masks and proof of vaccination — are allowed into a sanctuary that can seat more than 1,500.
The return to in-person worship “gives us a sense of connection and community,” Clarke said. “But you also have safety.”
At All Saints’ Episcopal Church in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, average Sunday attendance dropped from about 140 pre-pandemic to as low as 30 before climbing back, reaching 120 earlier this month. The Rev. Steven Paulikas credits a mandatory mask policy.
“Mask wearing puts people at ease about their health and allows them to do what people come to church to do — worship God,” he said.
Attendance is down sharply from pre-pandemic levels at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church in Cary, Illinois, which halted in-person, indoor worship for more than six months in 2020. Instead it held drive-in services in the parking lot.
Before the pandemic, about 115 people would attend one of two services offered on Sundays, said the pastor, Sarah Wilson. Now there’s one service, and attendance is down by more than half.
“Some families are still nervous about being in a room with others, even though most people attending are vaccinated and we require masks,” she said. “Other people have re-ordered their priorities and worship isn’t one of them.”
Friendswood United Methodist Church, in the Houston suburbs, has endured not only COVID-19 disruptions but also flooding during a winter storm last February that rendered the sanctuary unusable. It just reopened for services this month, said the pastor, Jim Bass.
Pre-pandemic, Friendswoods’ Sunday services would draw about 900 worshippers; Bass was pleased that about 650 gathered when the sanctuary reopened for high-energy, music-filled services on Dec. 5.
However, he said average attendance has been only half of that during most of the pandemic, creating a $400,000 shortfall in expected giving.
